Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 171

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Preparation (2)
*
*
*
Anyang Coffee Shop.
Sung Dae-jun, who had founded a paparazzi media company, stared at me with a rigid expression.
“So, so you’re saying… Congressman Baek Ki-ho?”
“Yes.”
“Sigh…”
Sung Dae-jun gulped down his iced Americano as if his throat were parched.
Then he wiped his wet lips with the back of his hand and shook his head.
“I’m sorry. It’s difficult. This is a newly launched business, and I can’t let it collapse before it even gets started.”
“I don’t think there’s much risk of exposure.”
“There isn’t. But the possibility exists, doesn’t it? I know that speaking like this in front of a prosecutor is like showing off in front of a chrysalis, but I’ll tell you anyway. Congressmen are monsters. Real monsters.”
Sung Dae-jun continued spewing warnings, but I gazed out the window with an indifferent expression.
At my apathetic face, Sung Dae-jun let out a sigh.
“In any case, I can’t do it. I’m afraid. And you seem to have no fear at all, Prosecutor.”
“That’s right. I have no fear.”
As Sung Dae-jun began to rise, my voice continued.
“But I have plenty of money.”
“What, what do you mean?”
My gaze turned toward Sung Dae-jun.
After acquiring a new objective, I wanted to seize control of the Paparazzi Media Company.
In this world where the media can be controlled yet cannot be trusted.
People seek to glimpse the truth hidden in the shadows of the media.
And rumors begin in the streets.
Those streets are now the paparazzi outlets.
I pulled out a notebook and pen from my pocket, placing them on the table. Then I tapped them with my finger and opened my mouth.
“I want to purchase shares in your company, Boss Sung Dae-jun. All of it or part of it. Write down whatever shares and price you want.”
“Wait, Prosecutor!”
“Is smearing excrement on Congressman Baek Ki-ho’s face really that frightening?”
“What are you even saying right now!”
“Aren’t you afraid of me?”
Sung Dae-jun’s pupils trembled.
The other party was a prosecutor.
A small paparazzi company could be torn apart at any moment.
The law is whatever you make it to be.
As Sung Dae-jun clenched his fists, I smiled faintly and continued.
“I heard from Reporter Lee Eun-ha. You managed political paparazzi and worked at the same company as her. Did you leave a major corporation just to chase after celebrities? No, you didn’t. Take investment and build the company you want.”
“…!”
“And meeting a fool who readily offers investment capital in exchange for writing a single article? That’s nothing short of divine providence, wouldn’t you say?”
Sung Dae-jun bit his lip.
But he didn’t leave his seat.
He simply stood there, staring at Seo Jin.
Seo Jin was right.
Meeting a fool willing to invest capital in exchange for writing a single article was indeed divine providence.
After a moment of silence, Sung Dae-jun pulled out his chair again and sat across from Seo Jin.
“I’m curious about your thoughts, Prosecutor.”
“I’m more curious about yours, Sung Dae-jun. What’s your goal? Starting as a paparazzi and moving up to a major news outlet? Or is it genuine journalistic integrity?”
Of course not.
He’d started this business after feeling the limitations of a salaried worker’s income and wanting to earn more.
Not a performing bear, but a king receiving payment.
Reading that expression, Seo Jin smiled quietly and spoke.
“Write down the investment amount you want.”
Sung Dae-jun ran his hand through his hair. Then, gripping his notebook, he opened his mouth.
“One last thing I’ll tell you. Baek Ki-ho is dangerous.”
“Before it becomes dangerous, I’ll take down the article. So don’t worry.”
“…Take it down?”
“Yes.”
After going through all that trouble to post it, now he was taking it down?
Confused by this incomprehensible statement, Sung Dae-jun tilted his head.
But Seo Jin felt no need to provide that explanation. He simply waited quietly for Sung Dae-jun to write down the investment amount.
“This should be about right.”
Sung Dae-jun handed his notebook to Seo Jin.
The investment: 40 million won. Equity stake: 10%
In truth, Sung Dae-jun had deliberated considerably.
A company just starting out, with initial capital of 300 million won.
What he’d written down was an urgent sum of 40 million won.
Sung Dae-jun waited for Seo Jin’s response with a tense expression.
40 million won was a substantial amount.
It could be someone’s annual salary.
‘Is he going to say it’s too much now?’
There weren’t many people willing to readily hand over such a large sum to a company with an uncertain future.
Just as Sung Dae-jun swallowed hard.
Seo Jin closed the notebook and spoke.
“I’ll send 500 million won as the first installment. I’ll take 51% equity for myself. Of course, I won’t interfere with management at all. Just post the articles I occasionally request.”
“…What? 500 million?”
“Let’s skip the contract. Money exchanged is trust itself.”
Sung Dae-jun heard nothing else from Seo Jin.
With 500 million won, he thought he could write and post insults about the President himself, let alone Baek Ki-ho.
“Use that money to set up operations in a more discreet location and expand your scale. And depending on how the company performs, I may be able to provide second and third rounds of funding, so try to grow it. I’d like the Paparazzi Media Company to have enough influence that articles go straight to the top search results.”
Five hundred million won isn’t the end—there will be second and third rounds of funding.
If he’s trying to control the Paparazzi Media Company on this scale, his intentions are clearly dangerous.
But the sum was too enormous to refuse.
“Y-yes, I’ll work hard.”
“I don’t like hard work. You need to do it well. You’re a professional.”
Sung Dae-jun’s expression shifted.
He understood this wasn’t free money.
“Of course. So we’ll prepare the bait to throw at Baek Ki-ho?”
“Write something moderately sensual. You can use initials for the protagonist’s name.”
It’s an article we’ll post and take down immediately anyway.
Whether it’s fiction or not, all that matters is provoking the target.
Sung Dae-jun nodded.
He drained the rest of his drink in one gulp and stood up.
“Moving the office to a shadier location and writing the story will keep me busy. I’ll head out now.”
Sung Dae-jun bowed and left, and I turned my gaze toward the window.
‘Two prosecutors with leashes around their necks.’
I have two prosecutors firmly under my control.
Chief Prosecutor Jo Woo-jae and Prosecutor Lee Jung-chul.
And three more prosecutors in my grasp.
Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Vice Chief Prosecutor Jeon Dong-guk, Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office Chief Prosecutor Kim Gwan-yong, and finally Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk.
‘One paparazzi media outlet.’
Today I acquired a paparazzi media company that can make people’s ears perk up.
A front line is gradually taking shape.
But it’s not enough. This is just the beginning.
From now on, I intend to seize more prosecutors, powerful figures, and the overwhelming capital to move them.
‘Next is…’
I clenched my fist tightly.
In this world I’ve been given a second chance at, I vowed once more not to let slip anything that falls into my hands.
With that, I stood up with cold eyes.
But then.
“Are you done?”
Reporter Lee Eun-ha, who had been sitting at a distance, approached me.
She hurried over after seeing Sung Dae-jun leave.
“Ah, yes. Thanks to you, Reporter, the conversation went well.”
“Are you heading straight to the District Prosecutor’s Office?”
That was my plan.
But Reporter Lee Eun-ha wore a hungry expression.
Now that I thought about it, lunch time had long passed.
“Should we grab something to eat before I head in?”
At those words, Lee Eun-ha’s expression brightened considerably.
She pointed out the window with her finger and continued speaking.
“I searched for nearby restaurants while waiting, you know? Over there, that apartment complex. There’s a delicious jjolmyeon place in the shopping center. Do you like jjolmyeon? Should we go eat?”
I had wanted to buy her something expensive out of gratitude, but jjolmyeon of all things.
When I suggested something more upscale, Lee Eun-ha smiled softly and replied.
“I like jjolmyeon.”
*
*
*
A few days later, at a Seoul Hotel.
I stepped into the elevator.
My destination was the restaurant—I had an appointment with Congressman Baek Ki-ho.
I stared at the changing numbers, lost in thought.
‘Baek Ki-ho….’
His intention in meeting me was crystal clear.
He wanted to make me his man.
But he would use me without ever truly trusting me—that much was certain.
From Congressman Baek Ki-ho’s perspective, trusting the nephew of Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun would be absurd.
I smiled slightly.
I had no intention of moving according to Congressman Baek Ki-ho’s designs.
I would not accept a future where I was merely exploited and then discarded without gaining anything.
That was his nature.
He bowed while simultaneously seeking eternal dominion.
‘Then….’
Rather than being dragged along, I needed to sit across from him as an equal and conduct a transaction.
Congressman Baek Ki-ho stood opposed to Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun.
He was the kind of man who had gathered several boxes of corruption to bring down Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun.
He was a necessary person for me as well.
With a soft ‘ding,’ the elevator doors opened and I stepped out into the lobby.
A familiar face appeared—Congressman Baek Ki-ho’s aide.
“He’s waiting for you.”
The aide left those words and turned, with me following in his wake.
It seemed the entire restaurant had been reserved; no other customers were visible.
Only the sound of our two sets of footsteps echoed through the space.
The aide walking ahead glanced back at me.
And he recalled what Congressman Baek Ki-ho had said.
“If he’s frightened by this much or shows his teeth without controlling his emotions, he’s not worth my attention. But if he surprises me… I’ll have to acquire him. By any means necessary.”
The aide’s eyes narrowed slightly.
‘There’s been nothing surprising so far.’
Several days had passed since he had declared war on me.
And throughout all that time, nothing had happened.
Just peaceful days passing by.
‘So after today, I’ll be out of favor?’
The aide thought this as he arrived at the door at the end of the hallway.
“Congressman, Prosecutor Seo Jin has arrived.”
As the door, which had been closed by the aide in front, opened, Congressman Baek Ki-ho could be seen sitting inside.
I bowed slowly toward Congressman Baek Ki-ho.
“I’m Seo Jin.”
“Sit.”
I and the aide entered the room.
I sat facing Congressman Baek Ki-ho, and the aide stood behind him.
Then the open door closed again.
Korean fine dining that costs hundreds of thousands of won per meal.
Liquor at a similar price.
All of it, taxpayer money.
Congressman Baek Ki-ho silently picked up the bottle.
And he filled my glass to the brim.
After I accepted the glass, I picked up the bottle and tilted it, breaking the silence-filled space.
“I was grateful for what happened last time.”
“What?”
“For stopping the article about my family.”
“Ah.”
Congressman Baek Ki-ho nodded as if it were nothing.
The person who ordered the article written, the person who ordered it taken down—it was all him, yet he pretended not to know.
“There’s no need to thank me for such trivial things.”
“No, sir. I was taught that if you receive something, you should repay it. That’s only proper.”
Congressman Baek Ki-ho’s hand, which held the glass, stopped abruptly.
My tone was certainly polite, but something sharp lurked beneath it.
“Proper?”
“Yes. I’ve been thinking about how to repay the favor you’ve shown me. But today, I came across this paparazzi article.”
“…!”
I extended my phone toward Congressman Baek Ki-ho with genuinely respectful posture.
Congressman Baek Ki-ho slowly reached out and took the phone.
A single paparazzi article.
Top star A brought top star B, who appeared in the same drama, to her home, but when she heard a sponsor was coming, she hastily kicked B out. B, who had been anticipating a passionate night with A, grew angry and investigated who the sponsor was—only to find it was Congressman C, a former judge eyeing the presidency, and quietly backed off. Congressman C’s romantic escapades….
Congressman Baek Ki-ho’s grip tightened on the phone.
The aide standing behind, having read the contents, swallowed hard with a tense expression, looking toward me.
Anyone could see that I had made a move.
Seeking revenge for last time.
‘This crazy bastard.’
This was baring his fangs.
Congressman Baek Ki-ho never forgave anyone who showed their teeth to him.
‘Apologize! Please!’
The aide cast an urgent glance toward Seo Jin.
He knew all too well where the storm of his anger would lead.
But Seo Jin turned away from that gaze and went even further.
“Don’t worry, sir. I confirmed the situation, stirred up Yeouido, and immediately shut it down. And going forward, I’ll handle matters like this myself.”
Congressman Baek Ki-ho set down his phone.
Then that cold gaze fell upon Seo Jin.
The aide squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the tirade to come.
But Congressman Baek Ki-ho’s reaction defied the aide’s expectations.
He began to chuckle.
With genuine delight, slapping his knee.
Then, bringing the glass to his lips, he spoke.
“I like you. If I had a daughter, I’d make you my son-in-law.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————